Barnstable High School graduates told: 'Have the courage to begin'

Monday

The sun finally came out to shine upon the 342 Barnstable High School students who marked a new beginning as graduates Saturday.

Red and white streamers on the goalpost blew perpendicular as Barbara Trainor-Tessier, Garry Pierce, and Ruth Pierce waited in the shade of one of three white tents framing Leo Shields Field.

“This is our baby girl graduating,” Ruth said of their granddaughter, Mackenzie Pierce.

As the BHS Concert Band began to play Pomp and Circumstance, graduate Iris Fajardo waited patiently ahead of her class on the field, her sequined white ballet slippers sparkling from her electric wheelchair.

Barnstable Schools Supt. Meg Mayo-Brown and School Committee Chairman Chris Joyce led the procession of BHS faculty onstage and all along the front row.

The faculty collectively applauded the students as they filed in two-by-two, climbed raised bleachers, and stood, facing the audience of about 1,000 people seated on the field.

Rayzel Joseph and Chantel Jones worked on keeping their mortarboards in place while Class Secretary Caroline Brodt introduced Class President Jack Manoog.

“It’s scary to leave 342 familiar faces,” Manoog said, “not because we’re scared of change, but because we’re human. We know what to expect every day at Barnstable High School. We don’t know what to expect after here.”

Then again, Manoog said, the Class of 2018 embraces not only uncertainty, but each other.

“We are not passive. We are active,” he said. “We’ve taken Thoreau’s advice: we focus less on the castles we’ve built in the sky and more on laying the foundations. We are innovators, leaders, and most importantly, learners -- not in the academic sense, but as young adults who have learned from each other since we were kindergartners.”

Acknowledging that he’s made fun of it upon occasion, “Pride-Respect-Honor” is the school’s slogan, Manoog reminded classmates.

“We define this slogan,” he said. “Pride is what we feel for ourselves and for each other. Respect is how we treat each other, or at least try to, and honor is what we feel for having been able to share our young lives with each other for the past 13 years.

“I will forever cherish this school not because of its name, but because I was able to experience my time here with all of you. This class has immeasurably changed my life for the better. Barnstable High School will forever be a part of me because of you, and for that I am eternally grateful.”

Student Council President Laurel Fournier thanked the BHS faculty for helping all 342 students discover who they are.

“We are the future,” Fournier said. “We have the power to change the world. I believe our futures are not predetermined. We determine it. Stay true to yourself and make the world a better place.”

As testimony to that, Class Treasurer Nora Canaday announded that the Class of 2018 would use money left over from its class trip and after-prom to plant trees in Cobb Astro Park and install a second water refill station on campus.

Canaday said the gifts are intended to help make the school more ecologically sustainable and reduce the number of plastic water bottles for recycling.

Mayo-Brown emphasized how proud she is of the graduates. She listed a number of fields of study that graduates would be pursuing.

“Some have chosen an immediate path to serve our country,” said Mayo-Brown, asking those who have entered the service to rise and remain standing as she read their names aloud. She then asked military and veteran parents to rise “so our students may recognize those who have gone before them.”

In writing her commencement speech, Mayo-Brown said, she asked BHS Housemaster Hope Taylor to quickly give her two words to describe the Class of 2018.

“Dedicated and fun,” Taylor reportedly responded first before adding: “No, wait. Actually, they are hilarious.”

“Hilarious is a word to celebrate,” Mayo-Brown said. “It denotes joy, humor, and fun. It tells me our future is in good hands.”

The superintendent called on the students to have tolerance, be patient and kind, and remember their Red Raider pride. She thanked all of the parents for developing fine students, congratulating them on a job well-done.

BHS Principal Pat Clark offered his own advice to the graduating class.

“Have the courage to begin,” he told them. “Whether it’s asking someone to dance or having the courage to tell a room full of strangers that you are the one for the job, have the courage to begin."

As Senior Class Advisor Ryan Friel read individual graduates’ names over the loudspeaker, photographers clicked two shots of each student.